CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF THE "GRAND ELEPHANT" BUSINESSMAN MOLA CHARLES NAMME MENYOLI

Mola Charles Namme Menyoli was born in Small Soppo, Buea on the 26th of September, 1930, to Rosine Mojoko mo Njie and Daniel Menyoli Molua of Wokoko.

During his lifetime, he established himself as an iconic businessman and a luminary in the South West community. As an eager-beaver with a solid business acumen, he resigned from his job as manager of the Lobe Estate to venture into business.

THE RISE OF THE GRAND ELEPHANT MAN

To raise capital for his business venture, he sold his late father’s house at Great Soppo for ninety-five pounds sterling and kept twenty-five pounds for himself. The remainder was used to pay for the education of his two half- brothers at Saint Joseph’s College, Sasse and the School of Agriculture in Bamenda. (Family Man). He used his own share of the money to carry out business feasibility studies.

PARAGON BARS:

In the course of these studies, he traveled to many parts of Southern Cameroons and Nigeria, including Kano and Sokoto. At the end of his travels, he concluded that the entertainment sector was a profitable one. Therefore, he founded the Paragon Bars. These on-licence entertainment centres which were found in Small Soppo (at the current site of Hotel Mermoz), Buea town, Tiko, Limbe, Kumba, and Bamenda, quickly helped to establish CNM as a businessman in the community. Since then he has gone from one business venture to another – and the list is long

BANANA FARMER:

Given the banana boom of the 1950sband his experience in agrobusiness, he quickly established the Menyoli Banana Farm in Wokoko

The proceeds from this venture provided the capital for subsequent business exploits.

MENYOLI BUS SERVICE:

In the late fifties and early 1960s, he entered the passenger transportation industry with forty buses and the Menyoli Bus Service dominated the industry in this part of the community for quite some time.

MENYOLI MOTORS:

He later founded Menyoli Motors, one of the earliest car dealerships in the area with well trained mechanics and repair shops in Dibanda. Under the auspices of this company, he obtained an exclusive dealership from car makers HINO MOTORS and DIAHATSU of Japan, introducing Diahatsu and Contessa into Cameroon.

He traveled to then Czechoslovakia and brought back Jawa motorcycles and Skoda cars.

From Manchester, England he introduced the BSA motorcycles. He also imported SIMCA and negotiated to bring MERCEDES-BENZ cars to Cameroon.

THUNDERBOLT FOOTBALL CLUB OF BUEA:

Combining enthusiasm for sports with business acumen, Charles Namme Menyoli

founded Thunderbolt FC of Buea in the mid sixties. This club thrilled football enthusiasts in Buea and surrounding towns for several years.

HUNTER’S MARKET:

In the 1960s, he established Hunters Market in Mutengene (at the entrance to Bwinga). Complete with tropical décor of bamboo and thatched roofs and walls, Hunter’s Market, this complex attracted patrons from far and wide who came in the never ending search for leisure and entertainment. At its prime, this facility hosted renown artists like Eboa Lottin and Ekambi Brillant.

HOTEL MERMOZ:

His dream of founding a shipping company began to express itself by the early seventies. Hotel Mermoz, which he starting building in 1972 is designed to look like a ship. Located in Small Soppo, this facility was at one time one of only a few hotels in Buea. Today, the name Hotel Mermoz has become synonymous with Buea.

POULTRY FARMER:

Several years after the closure of Hunter’s Market, he established and successfully operated a large poultry farm at this location.

OTHER VENTURES:

The record will note that he was the first exclusive dealer of Coca Cola in Cameroon.

He won the state concession and managed the Parliamentarian Flats in Buea Government Station from late 1970s into the early 1980s.

A firm enthusiast in the entertainment business, he operated Blackwatch Nightclub in Limbe near the New Town market in the seventies.

MENYOLI PALM ESTATE – LIKOMBE: Established in the early 2000s, this farm has quickly grown to become one of the largest privately owned farms with a state interest in the Buea area.

FAKO TRANSPORT & SHIPPING COMPANY LIMITED (FAKOSHIP):

In the 1970s, he served for sometime as the local president of the Red Cross society. In this capacity, he witnessed the tragic consequences of poor maritime transportation in the Gulf of guinea region – capsized boats and shattered lives. In an effort to improve maritime transportation in the area and reduce accidents at sea, he founded FAKO

TRANSPORT AND SHIPPING COMPANY LIMITED (FAKOSHIP) in 1978.

Although the company struggled to find its footing in then state monopoly maritime sector for several years, FAKOSHIP has now become a household name in this region, and the company is known worldwide, thanks in part to his ability to market a product.

In 1987, FAKOSHIP was designated by the state as a National Shipping Line, further establishing its footprint in cargo & container transportation in partnership with NDAL/NDS Holland.

In 1995, it answered a call to tender and submitted a winning bid for all 3 maritime outsourced activities of the National Oil Refinery (SONARA). Today its longest core business activity of +25 establishing the company’s lifetime service to the development of Cameroon in collaboration with PAD and SONARA.

In 2003, FAKOSHIP spawned one daughter company Security Finance Corporation plc (SEFFACORP PLC), a small but growing microfinance institution.

Today FAKOSHIP a highly valuable portfolio of high end commercial and residential buildings; developed mainly to provide collateral to raise capital to grow and keep the company sustainable and competitive across many future generations.

Since its inception, Mr. Menyoli has remained at the helm of the Fakoship and thanks to his leadership

the company has been awarded several honours, including the International Gold Star for Quality.

Mola MENYOLI passed away on June 25th, 2023. His legacy lives on.

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